See You In The Light
by Silksteel
Summary: Post Breaking Dawn: When danger threatens the Quileute wolves, Leah must choose between fulfilling her destiny and learning to love again. Two Alphas with ulterior motives, some unbalanced vampires, and the end of Leah's world as she knows it. Blackwater.
1. ExGirlfriend Syndrome

**Disclaimer: **Characters and concepts belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Author Note:** Breaking Dawn was unsatisfactory, so I'm giving Jacob and Leah the ending they should have had. For the purposes of this story, Jacob hasn't imprinted on anyone and the packs remain on civil - even friendly - terms. For now.

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_**See You In The Light**_

By

Silksteel

* * *

The alarm blared seven o'clock into my left ear and, without thinking, I picked it up and hurled it at the far wall of my bedroom. There was a smash, and a sigh from downstairs that I knew was my mother, lamenting having to buy me another clock. It was my third this month. Stupid werewolf strength.

'Leah-' came the wheedling voice at the door, accompanied by a brisk knock. 'You need to get up, there's not much time.'

Mom was being particularly patient since it was Sam's wedding today. I practically had a free pass to act the brat – not that anything usually stopped me. Fate had decided to piss all over my pathetic excuse for a life, and there wasn't a single person in La Push that begrudged me. Well, except maybe Black. He, at least, knew how I felt.

'_Leah –'_

'I'm coming, I'm coming,' I muttered, throwing back the flimsy sheet – no need for proper bedding when you had super werewolf central heating – and rising into a stretch. I felt a piece of my former alarm clock crunch beneath my foot. It was an inauspicious start to the worst day of my relatively short life.

There was another, more timid knock.

'I _said –'_

'Leah, it's Emily.'

'Oh, sorry, Em.' I was off my game. I could smell her now – it was the scent of blueberry muffins that gave her away. Woman was always freaking baking. Mind, it wasn't like the boys didn't appreciate it. Emily was the only one who really catered to their never-ending need to feed. 'Come on in,' I told her, opening the door.

I'd prepared myself well for this. I'd gone dress shopping with Emily for the express purpose of desensitising myself to the idea of her impending marriage. I'd even been a good enough friend to tell her, truthfully, that her first choice of hideous and frilly made her look like one of those little dolls rich folk used to hide their spare toilet roll. In return, she'd let me choose my own bridesmaid dress, saving me from the whims of her occasionally horrendous taste. Anything to lessen the sting, I suppose.

No amount of preparation would change what was happening today, however, and seeing Emily's nervous, overjoyed expression, was like a slug to the gut. I arranged my features into a smile and hoped I wasn't grimacing. She didn't seem to notice.

'Rachel will be here any minute,' Emily flustered, shooing me out of the way as she began to make my bed. An irrational urge to snap at her overcame me, but I distracted myself by unhooking my dress from its hanger. She liked to clean; _needed _to, really, as a way of dealing with her anxiety. 'She said she'd do our hair and make-up.'

I snorted as I stepped into the puddle of strapless silver I'd chosen as a nod to my colouring in the form I usually took. It fell just above the knee, and fitted my body like a second skin. I wouldn't admit to myself – or anyone else – if there might be a secondary motive in my mind. It wasn't a crime to look nice at someone else's wedding. 'Not much to work with here,' I commented when Emily looked at me questioningly. I ran my hand through my short crop by way of illustration. I'd cut it a few months after Sam and I broke up because he'd liked it long and I could still remember the feeling of his fingers stroking through it.

'Never say never,' another voice replied, and Rachel danced into my already crowded room, her hands laden with cosmetic cases and electronic appliances. 'Emily, you look beautiful,' she said genuinely, throwing me a grin directly after and raising her eyebrows at my dress. I pretended not to notice. Hers and Kim's were the same colour, only longer and less calculated.

'Let's get this over with,' I groaned, planting Emily firmly down on the bed and letting Rachel work her unholy magic. When she tried to pin down the bride with a pair of eyelash curlers, Emily's terrified expression made me laugh until I almost threw up.

'I don't know what you're laughing about, Clearwater,' Rachel murmured, her voice muffled by the lip pencil between her teeth. 'You're next.'

'You come near me with those things and I _will _bite you.'

* * *

Sam and Emily had decided to hold their wedding on the beach. Normally in the Olympic Peninsula, this would be the kiss of death, given that it rained for approximately _every day of the damn year. _However, there were a few benefits to knowing a fortune teller, even if she was a bloodsucking leech. Oh, Alice couldn't see us _specifically_ – something which I was eternally grateful for – but she _could _see the surrounding area, and correctly predict when they'd be having a heat wave. The happy couple had simply scheduled accordingly.

It was close to ten in the morning when we made it out of the house at last. Seth and Mom had gone on ahead to greet the guests. It was to be a small wedding with only the pack, their families, and some of Emily's relatives from the Makah reservation in attendance. I knew Sam had deliberately kept it small – one of the younger pack members had accidentally let it slip that they didn't want too many witnesses if I lost my head and phased.

I'd been sore about that for a while. Other than the way I tormented the others when I was part of Sam's pack, I'd been a model citizen. If I could have only made him feel a _fraction _of the pain I lived with every day, it might not have been so frustrating. He'd hurt me so badly, so irreparably, that spreading it around was the only way I could think to deal with it. I was beyond caring what sort of person that made me. I was here for Emily, because I'd promised. She was like my sister, and I couldn't let her down.

'Ready?' I asked, as we stepped out onto the sand of First Beach. I was surprised when Emily suddenly grasped my hand.

'Leah, I – I just wanted to thank you,' she told me sincerely, a hesitant smile forming on her ruined face. 'This means a lot to me, and...and to Sam.'

I felt nauseous. It had taken me a long time to forgive Emily for what had happened – and I still hadn't forgiven Sam. I didn't want either of their gratitude. I just wanted to get through the day. 'I know,' I said at last, mustering a smile from whatever reserves of strength I had left, and handing her the bouquet. 'Showtime, Em,' I whispered, joining Rachel and Kim behind the bride as we prepared to walk down the aisle.

* * *

Every step had been torture. Sam and Emily were so in love that it was painful to watch, and so I kept my gaze fixed firmly on the best man instead. Surprisingly, Jake had been the one to step up, despite the divide that had split the packs in the first place. He was, I noticed, staring straight back at me as they read the vows. There was an expression on his face that, I imagined, mirrored mine. He looked handsome in his black tux, and abjectly miserable.

It had never been my intention to form any sort of friendship with Jacob Black. Aside from our families and the fact that La Push was practically married to _itself, _we had nothing much in common. He was younger than me, and took to hanging out with Bella the former-human-turned-bloodsucker. I still don't know what I was thinking the day I joined his pack over Sam's, but I suppose I'd have taken almost anything to get away. That Jake proved to be a great Alpha worked in my favour. That I'd had to watch the Cullen bitch break his heart proved that there was no justice in the world. Even the tirade I'd unleashed on her after Jacob took off for the afternoon was only momentarily satisfying.

The day Renesmee was born, Jake and I raced halfway to Canada and back, and though it was mostly in silence, what he did say was eerily close to the way I felt every day since Sam had left me. I think I respected him more as a leader after that, and because he was holding out on the dreaded imprint. I also think it was one of the reasons I stuck around after the whole Volturi mess. Without a murderous horde of vampires to occupy my mind, that fact was all too obvious to Jacob.

'You want to get out of here?' a husky voice murmured in my ear as I stood awkwardly on the outskirts of the wedding party. The rings had been exchanged, and it was almost time for the throwing of the bouquet – something which I definitely didn't want to be around for. Second-hand happiness didn't really appeal to me.

I looked up at Jacob, his eyes warm and full of concern. I rolled mine. 'I'm fine,' I snapped, but it sounded hollow, and as he wrapped a hand around my upper arm, I let him lead me away.

* * *

We walked in silence for a while, only pausing for me to kick off my stupid, impractical shoes and leave them abandoned in the sand. Jacob had smiled at that, and I was relieved. I couldn't stand the pity – no, no it wasn't pity, more like…compassion – in his eyes. It reminded me too much of when it had first happened, and everyone felt so sorry for me. Poor, _heartbroken _Leah. All the allowances they made for me at first, until it became clear that the wound he'd left behind wasn't healing and the only barrier I could put between the world and my raw, constantly scratched heart was anger.

'You look like a freakshow in that get up,' I told him, and tugged his bowtie askew. It looked ridiculously tiny on his almost-seven-foot frame. Jacob wiggled his eyebrows at me.

'Yeah, right, did you see how those Makah girls were staring at me?'

'Probably wondering whether to report you for steroid abuse,'

Jacob waved a hand dismissively, as if he hadn't noticed that he dwarfed everyone around him. He wore it with pride though, not like he was some sort of genetic abnormality. Since we'd – grudgingly in my case – made peace with the bloodsuckers, Jake seemed less ill at ease with his place in the world.

'You can't talk anyway,' he retorted, stopping to pick up a pebble from the beach and hurl it into the ocean. I counted twelve skips before it sank. 'What's with the dress? Hoping a bit of leg might lure Sam back?'

'_Hah,'_ I barked out. 'You've all seen me naked at least half a dozen times -' a blush crept up the back of his neck – 'If Sam was so easily tempted he'd have jumped my bones long before his wedding. Anyway,' I smirked self-assuredly, and gave a little twirl like a supermodel. 'I _like _my dress.'

Jacob looked surprised at that. No shocker there. With the exception of the occasional nude scene – and I tried to limit those for Seth's peace of mind: no one should be forced to endure graphic thoughts about their sister – the other wolves generally considered me sexless, just one of the guys. It was enough to give a girl a complex. Apparently, if you were a Quileute werewolf, the only sort of girl you were allowed to fantasise about was the petite, dark-haired, _human _kind.

'Leah Clearwater, are you admitting to being a _girl?_'

I smacked him. 'I've always been girl, moron,' I said as Jake rubbed his arm and sat down on the wrecked bow of an upturned fishing boat. 'That hasn't changed just because I turn into a big grey _dog _every so often.' And that, of course, was the problem. I was _different_. I didn't belong anywhere, even among my own kind. I was a freak among freaks – the only female shapeshifter in the entire history of the tribe.

I sat down beside him. Something of my mood must have shown in my face because Jake was giving me that look again, like he'd give me a hug if he didn't know I savaged anyone that tried to show me the slightest kindness. 'Stop looking at me like that,' I muttered, my shoulders stiffening with discomfort.

'Like what?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Like you feel sorry for me, Jake. Like I'm some pathetic, heartbroken outcast.' Even if I was. 'Like I'm not the bitter harpy that makes pack life so unpleasant for all of you. Like –'

'Why did you come today?' he broke in, and the question paused me. There were too many possible answers to consider. I guess in a stupid way I wanted closure, even though I knew Sam and Emily were a done deal a long time ago. He tried to fight for me at first, tried to fight the connection. In the end he'd just said he wasn't strong enough, that I deserved someone who could give himself wholly to me. And he'd said that he couldn't deny _himself _the chance for happiness beyond comprehension, a sense of completeness that eclipsed anything that we'd built between us two hopeful mortals.

My lips pressed together. _That _memory stung. Sam still felt guilty about that, but the longer I held onto my resentment and my anger, the more he was inclined to try and convince himself that he hadn't done anything wrong. Imprinting took away choices, and with them responsibility. No one could blame Sam for what had happened. No one except me, and even though I did...

'You don't hate him,' he said wonderingly. 'You want him to be happy even if he's not with you.' Jake shook his head. 'You're a better person than anyone gives you credit for.'

What I hated was the fact that we'd spent so much time together that he knew how to read me. '_Shut up –' _I snarled fiercely, kicking sand all over his fancy outfit, my hands shaking slightly as they gripped at the hull.

I felt a splinter pierce my palm. '_OUCH – dammit!' _I spat, feeling close to tears as I ripped my hand away from the offending surface and held it up to my face to inspect the damage.

The splinter was the size of a large needle. Part of it was painted a fading blue, and I could see my blood pooling beneath it. Between the emotional savaging I'd already experienced, it only made sense that the remaining torture be physical. On the scale of average bodily injury in my life, it was pretty major. Especially since my only true catastrophe – almost getting myself torn to shreds by a newborn vampire last year – had been averted by a whisker. And Jacob. Who was gently taking my hand in both of his.

'Black –' I growled, trying to yank it back. He held on, his fingers gripped tight around my wrist.

'Hold still, you stubborn wench,' he muttered, and I watched in horrified fascination as he brought my hand up to his mouth. I felt his lips brush my palm, the heat of his breath on my skin, and a sharp sting as the splinter slid free.

He spat it carelessly into the sand as I jerked my arm away, folding it defensively across my torso. For a moment, Jacob looked almost angry, then it faded away to resignation. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he changed his mind at the last moment. That was probably just as well. Jake and I had settled into a relatively amicable truce, but things could still get pretty nasty sometimes.

'I'm sorry,' he said quietly. 'I wasn't making fun of you.'

I knew it anyway, and I didn't want to think about it, because that would mean acknowledging that Jacob was right.

'I miss her,' Jacob admitted suddenly, his face turned out towards the ocean. I didn't have to ask who he was talking about. 'Every day.'

'I know.'

I stretched my legs out in front of me, gazing critically at the red-brown sheen of my skin, and the tiny, vein-like copper stretch marks that shone in the sun. Since the change, I'd grown six inches and, even with my supernatural healing powers, my skin was struggling to keep up. I didn't mind so much; the less I looked like my old self, the better I felt. My eyes wandered to Jacob again, but he was looking at the sand, his shaggy curtain of black hair concealing his face.

'You should have kept it short.'

'What?' Jake screwed up his face in confusion. I wanted to pinch his cheeks.

'Your hair,' I elaborated. 'It looked better short.'

'Oh.' There was a smile in his voice.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, before the sound of voices shouting our names reached our superhuman ears.

'They're taking the photos,' Jake told me, standing up and shaking off the sand that I'd kicked all over him. He turned to give me a questioning look.

'You go,' I told him, mustering a weak smile. 'I'll be there in a minute.' I didn't want my photograph taken. I didn't want to know how it looked to feel like this.

* * *

**Endnote: **Reviews gratefully accepted, especially if anyone has advice on Americanising (Americanizing?) my writing, since I like canonical accuracy!


	2. Daybreaker

**Disclaimer: **Characters and concepts belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Author Note:** Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who reviewed, your input is much appreciated! To answer a few of your comments: This isn't a one-shot, but I'm not sure precisely how long it's going to be just yet. The evolution of Leah and Jake's relationship will probably be quite slow with a healthy dose of denial on both sides ;)

On the technical side, you might have noticed that I'm using single quotation marks for speech in my fic. The reason for this is, simply, because I like them. Generally, only children's fiction in the UK uses double quotation marks, and I'd feel kind of skeezy labelling a love story between two broken werewolves as "children's fiction".

Anyway, this chapter is in honour of _Momentarily Infinite _for adding my story to her awesome community, _Pawprinted_. Thank you!

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**_See You In The Light_**

By

Silksteel

* * *

The morning after the wedding found me sitting on the floor of my room, my back to the hard, wooden side of the bed, playing Dad's old guitar. Normally I'd be doing chores or fixing something around the house – it was old and needed constant repairs – but Mom seemed content to leave me alone today. I was grateful; I felt drained. After the reception - at which I watched awkwardly from the bar as everyone including my little brother danced with someone - I hung my stunning, impractical dress from a tree outside and exploded into my furry alter ego. It wasn't any easier to experience the same feelings in wolf form, but at least I was free from the stares and the sympathy and the murmured comments behind raised hands.

I ran until Jacob came to take me home at dawn.

I'd seen something in his mind then; something that I'm sure he didn't mean for me to see. Jake usually tried to keep his thoughts as neutral as possible when we were all connected – probably because of the numerous times I complained about dreaming of kissing Bella – but when he was tired, little things would slip through. Like the fact that he admired me for the way I was handling Sam's wedding. As far as Jacob was concerned, though he was too polite to say so, Sam and Emily had been selfish and inconsiderate to insist I come at all, never mind be in the wedding party. He thought they were trying to assuage their guilt by convincing themselves that I was fine.

The memory prompted a slight, irritated twitch of my lips as I strummed a tune mindlessly. Dad had taught me and Seth to play, but I was the one that really picked it up. I liked the raw pain in my fingertips after a long session, and how even the wrong notes sounded beautiful. I liked remembering my dad teaching me chords and the pride on his face when I managed my first song. The grief I felt at his death was as strong now as when it happened, and I didn't think my memories of him would ever stop being accompanied by sadness, but that was familiar territory for me.

* * *

Hollers and whoops broke the silence as four teenage werewolves piled into the kitchen directly beneath my floor. I could hear them making fun of the way Quil had danced every dance with Claire the night before and completely missed the fact that half the women in the room were swooning over the sight. Then my mother entered and asked the magical question: 'Boys, you hungry?' which, of course, they always were. Privately, I thought Mom enjoyed having them there just so she had something to do, someone to look after when Charlie wasn't around. Just as Emily's house was the unofficial headquarters of Sam's pack, so my place was the heart of Team Jacob.

'Hey,'

I glanced up to find the man himself standing in the doorway, looking just about as uncomfortable as I'd ever seen him, and with good reason. I stared at him for almost a minute, before the urge to laugh got the better of me. 'Wait, let me guess, you've decided to win Bella back by copying her husband's hairstyle?'

'Shut. Up.' He ground out, his eyes narrowing at the mention of his former love. Still, even _he _had to admit, the resemblance was uncanny.

The vicious grin that broke across my face was received with a growl. 'Wow, Jake...and I thought _I _was the only one desperate enough to do that sort of thing.' In hindsight, I should have assumed that he'd take yesterday's comment to heart, especially since there weren't many girls in his social circle these days to venture an opinion.

Jacob clenched his jaw, and started to turn around, but I pushed myself up off the floor, setting the guitar on my bed. 'Oh, come here, you big _baby_,' I groaned, aware that this sort of behaviour could be construed as weak, but really. I couldn't have my fearless leader wandering around looking like he'd spent the day in a salon. People would talk. Not to mention Bella might actually appreciate it – she liked her men effeminate. 'Sit,' I told him, gesturing at the wooden chair in front of my dresser as I stepped into Seth's room for the electric shaver. There was nothing to be done about salvaging the mess he'd made of his hair short of erasing it.

When I returned, Jacob was perched obediently on the tiny chair that quivered slightly with his every movement. He was holding an old picture of my Dad making mud pies in the back yard with me and Seth. 'Look at you,' he said, waving the photo at me. 'You were an adorable kid. You had _pigtails. _What the hell happened?'

I snorted, clipping him across the ear as I snatched the picture away and shoved it in a drawer. 'I also played with dolls and believed in happily ever after. You really want to revisit the seven year old me?'

'I bet she was less violent.' Jacob rubbed his ear, giving me a reproachful look.

'Pussy. Ask Jared how many times a week I made him cry at preschool.'

'You make him cry _now.'_

'True,' I smirked as I plugged in the shaver, watching Jacob lean his arms on the dressing table and eyeball my cosmetic collection. It wasn't anything special. There were probably better skincare routines devised in Communist Russia, but being a werewolf meant never suffering anything as human as a skin blemish ever again. That part, at the very least, I could appreciate.

'Wait, wait,' Jake protested, as I made to start on demolishing the bloodsucker-inspired quiff that had taken residence atop his head.

'What now?'

'You're not going to, like, mutilate me, right?'

The shaver buzzed ominously in the background as I appeared to consider the question in depth. 'Alright,' I agreed finally, rolling my eyes and knocking his hand away. 'No obvious deformities. Spoilsport.'

* * *

I leant a hip against the dresser, watching impassively as Jake scrutinised his makeover in the tiny mirror. There hadn't been bloodshed in the creation of his new hairstyle but it was a near shot. Despite his misgivings, Jacob had proved shockingly cavalier about the fate of his life when I had a set of sharp, vibrating blades that close to his skull, and insisted to regale me with the story of how my baby brother almost went home from the wedding with a woman older than our mother. As far as I was concerned, Jake was responsible for that, being both Alpha and Seth's object of absolute hero worship.

'So you _are _useful for something,' he teased, ducking out of range as I raised a hand to smack him.

'You mean other than feeding you and saving your stupid hide occasionally?' I asked sardonically. 'Yeah, I guess I am.' Technically my last point could be argued both ways given our recent history, but we were concentrating on _my _usefulness now.

'Speaking of feeding –' Jacob gave me a hopeful look as he tugged off his shirt and shook out the stray hair all over my bedroom floor. I growled.

'Too late, man. Seth's picked the place clean.' The doorframe creaked as Quil leaned against it, his big gorilla arms crossed – with difficulty – over his chest, and appraised Jacob. 'Oh,' he said, sounding disappointed. 'You fixed him.'

'You're a true friend, Ateara,' Jacob said dryly, tossing his shirt in the vague direction of my bed as he stood up.

I tried not to sigh too loudly. About the time that the majority of teenage boys on the reservation began to turn into werewolves, they'd caught onto the fact that it came with certain _physical _benefits. Now there was hardly a t-shirt to be found between the lot of them. Jake was the worst, probably because he didn't even notice that he was doing it. As if it wasn't bad enough that I was single and hadn't been laid in almost two years, but I was surrounded by half-naked men for most of my waking hours. I must have done something truly horrific in a past life.

He glanced back at me as he headed for the door. 'You coming?'

'Where?'

'Thrifty Mart.' The _duh _was silent at the end of his answer.

I raised an eyebrow. 'Keep this up and I might actually let you move in once Mom's gone.' Charlie had been making commitment noises at my mom, and I figured it was only a matter of time before she got tired of hauling her overnight bag to Forks every weekend. Billy, meanwhile, was coveting a smaller place, one without stairs and the extra bedrooms for his erstwhile offspring.

'Sure, sure,' Jake snorted, ushering Quil out ahead of him. 'You're buying the beer.'

* * *

'Which genius let Embry drive?' I demanded from the back seat of the creaky old Ford that was travelling an average speed of old-lady-miles-per-hour. I was crammed between Jake and my brother, neither of whom were petite by any definition, my body concertinaed into the smallest space possible. It was unbearably hot even with all the windows open; Jake was radiating heat like a nuclear power plant.

'It's my damn car!' I could see the tips of Embry's ears turning red, but he wasn't getting any sympathy from me. He hadn't seemed to grasp that we were pretty much immortal. Driving a little over the speed limit wasn't the decadent act of rebellion it used to be when an accident could no longer kill you.

'I don't see why we couldn't have phased,' Seth whined, still in the first blush of love with his wolf form, and oblivious to the inconveniences.

'And what, strap the beer to your back for the ride home like a pack pony?'

'Would've been faster than Driving Miss Daisy over there,' Seth pointed out, and not unreasonably so.

'Shut up, My Little Pony,' came Embry's lame retort as we pulled up to the Thrifty Mart. The moment the car rolled to a halt, I was leaning across Jacob to open the door, and shoving him out on to the tarmac. He gave me an odd look.

'I just lost half my body weight in sweat sitting next to you,' I snapped, and almost fell flat on my face when I tried to stand up. My legs had gone numb from being folded up for so long.

Jake's expression was bemused as he caught me effortlessly, and I muttered something unrepeatable. 'You're welcome,' he smirked, and I shook his grip away, clinging to the car instead. His hands burned my bare skin uncomfortably from where they rested a moment too long, beneath the hem of my tank top where it didn't quite meet my shorts.

'You guys just going to stand there flirting all day or are we going to get some damn groceries?' Quil shouted from across the car park, as Embry and Seth grabbed a couple of carts and started racing them to the door.

'Oh, go fu-'

A large hand clamped around my mouth accompanied by Jacob's husky laugh. 'Not in front of the children,' he admonished, directing my attention towards a family of four that were just ahead of us as he began frogmarching me towards the entrance.

* * *

The pack's approach to shopping was to cram as many frozen pizzas and bags of chips into the cart as was physically possible. All of us had part-time jobs in garages and lumber yards in La Push so money wasn't an issue, although I sometimes wondered if werewolves were capable of getting scurvy. Since the only vegetables we ever ate were attached to a base of simple carbohydrates and cheese, it wouldn't have surprised me.

The great beer brand debate was much more heated than the squabbles that usually arose between Dorito die-hards and Cheeto losers – no need to ask which team I was on – and it took us an average of thirty minutes to agree on the night's beverage of choice. I privately suspected that the boys just enjoyed fighting out the merits of Coors versus Miller, but I couldn't really tell the difference between them.

Besides, none of us were technically old enough to buy alcohol. Paul, before he'd been lost to the soft mushiness of imprinting, had gifted us all with fake ID's. Now, of course, he was far too whipped to use his. As for the rest of us, well. We weren't going to wait until our actual ages caught up with our physical ones.

'Hey, _hey,' _I snapped, as Quil and Embry started tussling in the liquor aisle, knocking me into a stand. With a glare, I grabbed a box of Miller in one hand and a box of Coors in the other, dumping them both into the cart. 'I don't want to spend another Saturday listening to Laurel and Hardy duke it out over their identikit beers.' I rolled my eyes, and added a bottle of Grey Goose to our growing inventory.

'Planning on making a night of it?' Jacob enquired slyly, wrestling the cart from my grip and guiding it smoothly to the checkout.

'Try a weekend of it,' I muttered, my brain unwillingly glancing at the memory of Sam and Emily's departure the night before. Hawaii, apparently. Only Sam's complete and total lack of imagination stopped me from committing ritual suicide by throwing myself off the cliffs.

Jacob grinned at me, ignoring the checkout girl gawking at his shirtless torso as he loaded our frat party groceries onto the conveyor. 'Homicidal jealousy looks good on you,' he said casually, then winked at Jessica, resplendent in her green and white Thrifty Mart uniform, as he flashed his ID.

Protesting that I wasn't homicidally jealous of Emily would probably _not_ work in my favour, so I didn't. Instead, I elbowed Jake in the ribs. Hard. 'Stop making strangers fall in lust with you,' I scolded, helping the hapless bag boy sort through the endless pizzas. Jessica blushed beetroot red, and I smiled cruelly.

'Only if _you _promise to fall in lust with me,' Jacob teased, losing interest in the checkout girl once we'd divided up the bill and handed over our shares.

I wrinkled my nose. He was giving me the eyebrow wiggle again. 'Keep dreaming, Jake.'

* * *

There were four enormous boys sitting on my front porch when we returned from the store, and all of them looked worried. Jared, in particular, seemed to be warring between embarrassment, anxiety and even a little bit of anger. I thought of how he'd whined and complained to Sam about having a woman in the pack when I'd first phased, and I made sure I was out of the car first when we pulled into the driveway.

'Sam's only been away for one day and you need Alpha guidance _already_?' I asked incredulously and I could hear Jacob's ill-disguised snort from the car behind me. Whilst there wasn't outright hostility between the packs, there was a certain sense of rivalry, especially since – seeing how miserable they were without their third musketeer – Sam let Quil and Embry switch allegiance.

'Can it, Leah. We came to warn you,' Jared muttered, pulling himself up off the stoop. Paul, no more than a step behind him, glared at me. It was a mild rebuke from the former crown prince of overreaction. I snapped my teeth at him.

'What's the news?' Jacob asked, all business now as he came to stand next to me.

'Brady picked up a scent on patrol this morning and we – we don't know what it is.' Jared certainly had our undivided attention now. 'It's not a vampire,' he explained quickly. 'But it doesn't smell...right.'

'Where were you?' Jacob prompted, looking at Brady now. The kid had grown a lot in the past few months, and even his gaze, so steady and sure of himself, spoke of maturity. It was a little weird, truth be told. La Push's mighty Protectors were a bunch of baby warriors.

'Up near the cliffs. I tracked the scent east from the border until I lost it in the stream,' Brady explained cautiously, glancing at Jared for guidance. 'Whatever it is seems to be interested in the rez.'

Behind us, I heard Embry, Quil and Seth stop unloading the groceries. A solemn sort of silence fell over the whole group, and it was beginning to freak me out. Until now, the main threats to La Push had been indirect, usually as a result of Bella Swan's irresistible pull for dangerous supernatural beings. It was a novelty to have a fight on our hands that actually _belonged _to us.

'Seth, call the Cullens, see if they've come across anything,' Jake said at last, mobilising from his strategising inertia.

Seth was already in motion, breezing past Jared and his cronies, tossing an eager: 'On it!' over his shoulder. Only my brother, I thought, could be so happy about an order that would likely see him being left behind in La Push whilst we went to check out the threat.

'Jared,' he continued. 'Your pack's on defence. Seth'll let you know if we find anything.' To my surprise, neither Jared nor Paul argued. There was a time not that long ago when both of them would be raring for a fight, not taking orders from someone younger than them, no matter _who_ his ancestor was.

Quil and Embry were sent on a northward sweep of the surrounding forest, and finally it was just Jacob and I, standing by the abandoned car and sixteen bags of frozen pizza. 'Theories?' he asked, turning to me.

I could feel the first raindrops of an inevitable downpour landing on my bare arms. I smirked, shrugged. 'I'm just holding out for something we can kill.' After the debacle with the Volturi – the battle that never was – I could tell that Jacob was one hundred percent with me.

He laughed as we jogged beneath the cover of the trees, and I decided I wasn't going to worry about the unnamed threat until my Alpha did.

* * *

**Endnote: **To my silent majority - I promise I don't bite ;) Please let me know what you think so far; what you liked, didn't like, and whether there's really any difference between Miller and Coors!


	3. Bad Company

**Disclaimer: **Characters and concepts belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Author Note:** Has it really been two years? Heh, whoops. Hi again!

* * *

**See You In The Light**

By

Silksteel

* * *

All I could hear was the wild roar of the swollen Hoh tributary and the occasional boom of thunder closing in from the coast. All I could smell was the colour green - chlorophyll bleeding from leaves torn asunder by the raging wind, and the rich, dark earth churned up beneath my great paws. I could see nothing through rain that fell in sheets and turned the ground to quagmire in moments. With every step I took, I cursed Jared's name. Even _real _wolves would have the good sense to stay under cover during a storm of this magnitude.

I leapt onto a fallen log to prevent myself from sinking into the ground, and Jacob joined me a few seconds later. He sat back on his haunches and gave me a mournful look. His ears were drooping, and his soaked fur was plastered to his huge frame. We'd been searching the forest for a good half hour in this torrential downpour, and I suspected that any trace of the elusive stranger would be long gone, washed away by mud and dead leaves.

_This is a waste of time. _Somehow, even though I was only thinking them, the words came out much harsher than I'd intended. Probably something to do with the all-pervasive rain worming its way through my thick fur as we searched for a ghost. I still felt a little bad.

There was a moment of silence followed by a faint impression of surprise from Jake. He pawed at his muzzle, and looked for all the world like he was laughing at me.

_What?_ I demanded, tail flicking in irritation. It was creepy how our bodies adapted to these new forms and how natural it felt to express ourselves as canines.

_You're better at apologising when you're a wolf. _Jake's tongue lolled out of his mouth comically, and I could feel his amusement as he dodged my swipe and took off into the forest. _One more sweep, then we'll go home. _He promised, and I had no choice but to follow him. There had better be something damn good out there waiting for us, I thought, racing after the shadowy russet wolf.

* * *

_I found it! I found it! Guys, guys, I found the trail! _Embry was doing a victory dance in our heads a few minutes later, his howl ringing out sharp and piercing above the storm. I remembered how such things used to sound, back before I'd phased, before I knew that the monsters in the woods were boys I'd grown up with and gone to school with. Now I could tell, even without the running commentary in my head, that it was an expression of joy, of anticipation.

_We're on our way. _I bolted ahead of Jacob, weaving between the trees at a speed that would render me just a silver-grey blur to the human eye. There was nothing that gave me more pleasure than this, knowing that I had one trait in this pack or any other that couldn't be bested. I might have been the girly wolf, but I was also the fastest.

_And the most vicious,_ Jacob added, a verbal smirk that I couldn't help but agree with. The only reason I was still out here was for the opportunity to rip something apart. Unwittingly I thought of Sam then, and wondered absently whether it was possible to strangle someone to death with a lei.

I could hear Quil, much less sensitive to my mood swings now than he had been when he first joined Jake's pack, laughing in the background. _If anyone can do it, it's probably you_, he commented rather encouragingly. I felt a little warmer inside as I slowed to a halt beside Embry.

_Yeah, yeah, we all know Leah's awesome,_ Jacob interrupted dryly, as we converged on Embry's position. _But can we focus on the matter at hand, please? Embry, report._

_Four - no, five -creatures heading north-east._

_Creatures? _Quil asked doubtfully, as he appeared from between the trees, shaking a cascade of water from his chocolate fur.

Embry fidgeted anxiously. _Jared was right, they aren't vampires._ The rest could be left unsaid, because they weren't human either. I could smell it now, what was making Embry so tense and jumpy, what had spooked Jared enough to consult the rival alpha. Even though the trail was a few hours old and the rain had softened it, there was no mistaking the scent.

_Smells like death, _Quil observed astutely as Jacob joined our group gathered at the foot of a large cedar tree.

Death, in this case, smelled of rust, ammonia and sickly-sweet decay. Whereas the vampires were like pouring drain cleaner into your nostrils, this was like shaking hands with a week-old corpse. If I didn't know better, I'd think there were zombies wandering around the Olympic Peninsula.

_North-east it is, _Jake said firmly, eyeing me in a way that seemed to indicate that he thought I was overreacting. Or that I shouldn't scare Embry. I wasn't quite sure. _Stay together._ That, he was definitely addressing to me. It wasn't _my _fault the boys couldn't keep up.

_Muscle mass, _Quil whined.

_Excuses, excuses. _I was smug as I fell in line behind Jacob. We moved together as a well drilled unit, noses to the ground, and minds revolving around a singular idea. Something was looking for us. Not Bella Swan, the most boring ex-human in the world. Not her half-breed daughter. _Us. _It might not be one of our sworn enemies, but it smelled like death and it was looking for us, and whatever it was, I intended to kick its ass.

* * *

_Alice hasn't seen anything, _Seth broke into our thoughts with his usual enthusiasm. He sounded breathless. _They've sent Edward and Jasper out to help you._

_Thanks, Seth, _Jacob answered distractedly, his gaze fixed somewhere ahead of us as he slowed to a trot. He'd even forgotten to snark over mention of his love's husband, which he usually made a point of doing. I had seen in his memories once that Bella told him Edward thought of Jacob as a brother. Our mighty Alpha's opinion on the matter didn't bear repeating in polite company.

_You got any idea what it is yet?_

Embry bared his teeth at me in a grin. _Your sister thinks they're zombies._

_Cool! _Seth exclaimed wildly. I wondered for a moment whether my little brother was adopted. Perhaps he was a Martian that had learnt human emotional responses from old episodes of Cheers. _Very funny, Leah, _he pouted. _Gotta go, phone's ringing._

_Seth - _Jacob interrupted, pausing my brother before he shifted back into his gangly human form. _Have Jared and the others stand by. _The russet wolf raised his huge head and glared through the trees ahead. _I don't like this._

* * *

I could feel my legs beginning to tremble as we reached the clearing. My hackles were raised, and a growl was building low in my belly. It wasn't just the smell of these strange and dangerous intruders, it was the feeling of _wrongness_, the appeal to a sixth sense that every animal on the planet had. If I'd just been the animal, the wolf, I knew I would have turned around and made a dash back the way I had come, hiding and trembling under a log somewhere. Unfortunately, I was also a human, a protector of the Quileute tribe, and duty bound to investigate. Beside me, I could feel Jake bristling with apprehension, though his mind was carefully quiet. He was good at that, holding back and assessing the situation. I'd thought I'd find it too hard, being in such silence all the time; I thought that the silence would force me to relive the shittier parts of my life. I was happy, for once, to be wrong. All I thought about as we ran was the act itself.

Except now. Now we were all thinking about death, about what it meant to have it stalking the Rez. Jacob led, and the rest of us fanned out into a natural arrow. I flanked Jake as the longest serving member of the renegade pack - he'd made me the Beta because he knew I'd do what needed to be done, even when he couldn't. In some ways, Jake was as soft as my little brother. Quil and Embry, well, they'd had their issues - and I sometimes caught them still, wondering if they'd been there first, if they'd had the strength of mind to pull away...they didn't begrudge me, but perhaps that was all they censored.

As I came back to myself and the moment, I watched Jake's body tense and unconsciously followed suit. The smell was stronger now, choking and overpowering, invading every pore of my body as we passed through the final stand of trees and got our first glimpse of the strangers.

A ripple of shock ran through the pack. They were human! No...not human, not entirely. They had hearts that beat and blood flowing through their veins, but they were not just human. Two males and two females stood in the clearing, obviously waiting for us. They were dressed sparsely for the weather, some in light khakis or jeans, and t-shirts that had seen better days. None of them wore shoes.

_Not zombies, then. _Embry thought, though he didn't seem too convinced by it.

There was an air of decay to them. Even through the rain I could tell it had been quite some time since any of them had a really good wash. Their clothing was spattered with mud, fraying and discoloured. Their eyes were a uniform eerie yellow, and as the biggest male took a step forward, I could see that his hands with nails like claws were patchily stained red.

A snarl tore from my throat before I could stop myself. Quil and Embry tensed, the front of their bodies lowering in readiness for an attack. Only Jake remained calm. _Blood,_ I projected at him, but he brushed me away. He'd already noticed.

The big male smiled in a manner I assumed was supposed to be placating. His teeth were razor sharp and blackened with years of neglect. 'My brothers,' he began, and only the heavy presence of Jake beside me curtailed any complaint on my part. 'We have travelled far in our search for you.' One of the females, a pale blonde who might have been albino in another life, twitched. I glared at her. 'The Volturi call you shapeshifters,' the man continued. 'But we disagree. The wolf is a symbol of power, the symbol of our dark goddess. She has chosen you to succeed us.'

_What does that mean? _Quil asked in the silence that followed.

_They're werewolves,_ Jacob replied in a strained tone. _Children of the Moon._

_If Caius finds out about this -_ I hissed, thinking of the second Volturi brother whose abhorrence for werewolves was well and widely publicised.

_I know._

* * *

Jake slowly backed away from the group, his eyes on the werewolves, until he was in the shadow of the trees. As his presence vanished from my mind, I realised he'd phased. Embry let slip a whine of consternation, and his obvious anxiety drew the interest of the strangers.

Not, however, as much as Jacob's reappearance. He was dressed, if it could be called that, in his trademark black cutoffs. His newly-shorn hair glimmered with droplets of water that slid down the russet skin of his back as he approached the group. The leader, as we'd come to think of him, eyed Jake with a mixture of wariness and surprise. He'd expected someone older, someone who _looked _like an Alpha. He'd expected someone like Sam.

Jake folded his arms over his chest. He had always been discomforted by his role as pack leader, and more so when it was apparent to everyone but him that his relation to Ephraim had only a minor bearing on his abilities. He'd been born to lead, but he was _good _at it, and so we followed. The werewolves saw a seven foot boy - what did they know?

'I am Jacob, of the Quileute tribe,' he said slowly, formally. The leader looked him over once more, his smile fading. 'And we wish to know why you sought us out, _brother._'

_Eradicate the competition,_ Embry murmured in the relative privacy of our joined minds. Quil shifted position into a defensive crouch, his eyes never leaving the pale woman.

_Relax,_ I commanded, even though I knew that Jake didn't really have a plan, not yet. He was just feeling out the situation, making nice with the threat until he understood it better. _Wait for a signal._

The pale woman stepped forward cautiously, seemingly more worried about the reaction from her own superior than any of ours. Close up she had a sort of awkward grace as if she possessed more bones than she ought. Her skin was almost translucent in the dim light of the forest, and were it not for the faint pink sheen of the blood beneath, she could easily have been mistaken for a vampire. 'We are hunted,' she told us, and her voice quavered though the timbre was low. 'We are the last of a pack, more than thirty in number. The Volturi -' there was a simultaneous growl from her pack as she spoke the name aloud. 'The Volturi,' she repeated, 'Seek to drive us to extinction.'

_Get to the point,_ Quil groaned in the background, but a horrible suspicion was already forming in my mind. These four weren't here to meet us, nor to study us. They were here seeking our protection. They'd heard of the spirit wolves allied with the vampires, heard how we averted - no, _defeated_ - the Volturi in their quest to destroy the halfling child. They didn't understand that it had been fluke, that the Volturi had become used to immobilising their enemies for an easy kill. They were blind and weak without the skills of their chosen few like Chelsea and Alec - but by no means were they beaten. And now the werewolves had put all of us in danger.

* * *

Without sparing a single thought for my dignity - since I was a grown woman who regularly morphed into a giant wolf, there weren't many who'd challenge my lack of it - I phased back into my human form. If I'd been paying attention I would have felt the atmosphere change - Embry and Quil were, of course, embarrassed beyond words. The werewolves stared openly.

'They're going to bring the Volturi down on us!' I snarled at Jake. 'You know Caius was just looking for an excuse to crush us - this is perfect for him; if he can prove we're in league with the werewolves -'

'Leah,' Jake growled warningly, glancing once at the gawking strangers before turning his back on them, shielding me from their gaze. He kept his eyes on mine as his hands gripped my upper arms firmly. 'I know,' he whispered. 'I know why they're here. Leave this to me. Trust me.' His adams apple bobbed as he swallowed, suddenly nervous. 'And if you're going to stay, you know, human...would you mind putting something on?' He looked back over his shoulder, and I stood on tiptoe to peer over, meeting the shocked gaze of the pale woman.

'Perverts,' I muttered, untying the sopping wet bundle lashed to my ankle. The t-shirt was grubby and stained with mud; the shorts were stiff with it. But Jake seemed to relax a little once I was clothed - and the two wolves behind me weren't forced to avert their eyes any longer.

The werewolves seemed to muttering among themselves, so fast and low that if it were not for my enhanced hearing, I wouldn't have been able to make out what they were saying.

'She's the one; the one from the legend -' one of them whispered furiously, glancing at me and back again so quickly it was a wonder he didn't give himself whiplash. It was the smaller male, a ratbastard of a man with the eyes of a sarcastic shark. If the leader wanted to, he could crush him with one hand.

_'Enough_,' the older woman hissed, speaking for the first time since we'd met them in the clearing. She was the only one who showed any sign of age. Though the others brought an aura of death, of decay, she was the only one that seemed like she was getting any closer to actually being a corpse.

The others fell silent immediately.

'Forgive Gabriella, she is young to this life, and prone to exaggeration,' the woman apologised smoothly, brushing past the others, a serene smile highlighting the crows feet at the corners of her eyes. 'We have heard of your encounter with the Volturi, but that is not the primary reason we are here.' Her gaze found mine and I stared back defiantly, unsettled by the mention of any legend which referenced me specifically. Bad enough being the freak in La Push without global acknowledgement.

'Our legends tell of a woman who will be our saviour. She is a woman of the Earth, not a slave to the Moon.' Her face was grave but hopeful. 'She will make us powerful once more, and free us from our servitude.' The naked hunger in her eyes was more than unsettling. She came closer, hand outstretched to touch me, as if to convince herself that I was real, and as she crossed an invisible line between my pack and her own, several things happened at once.

Embry and Quil sprang forward, stopping a mere hairswidth away from the woman, their fierce snarls clearly audible over the monsoon drowning the forest. As they did so, Jacob - who had been trembling ever so slightly since the older woman had begun to take such an interest in me - exploded. Acres of red-brown fur tore through his skin, and the scraps of his cutoffs drifted down into the mud, to be carried away by the stream that had formed beneath our feet. He crouched in front of me, his growls deafening . The woman shrank back, and I understood the show of strength when the werewolves regarded us with something like fear. I didn't know how they'd compare in their wolf forms, but we'd fought vampires and my confidence was unshaken.

'I'm not the one you're looking for,' I told them firmly. 'We're shapeshifters; our power is ancestral. We are not your brothers,' my eyes were cold as I said it. 'And we are duty bound to protect these lands. You are not welcome here.'

* * *

**Endnote: **Feed my vanity please :D Love you all!


	4. For Whom The Wolf Howls

**Disclaimer: **Characters and concepts belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Author Note:** Thanks for the reviews and the adds! You guys make my day. Whilst the last chapter was heavily plot centric, this one has a bit more Blackwater goodness. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**See You In The Light**

By

Silksteel

* * *

'They mentioned a legend?' Edward asked the hulking form of our Alpha who was pacing the small clearing, tail twitching in agitation.

_It's bullshit,_ I snapped, knowing there was no reason to phase back into human form when the leech could easily pick the answers out of my mind. Besides, I didn't like being human around them. It made me feel like prey. _They're worried about the increased Volturi presence outside Italy and think we can protect them._

_They think Leah's some sort of saviour, _Embry broke in, the interruption unusual in that neither he nor Quil spoke to the leeches - in any form - unless it was unavoidable. _They called her Woman of the Earth._

'Woman of the Earth,' he repeated for Jasper's benefit, but he looked at me speculatively as he did so. I wasn't a great study in vampire facial expressions - as far as I was concerned, they only had one default expression, and that was blank as a marble floor tile - but Edward appeared to be turning over the information over in his mind. He traded glances with his brother, the warrior, who was marginally more tolerable simply because he didn't say much, but their family moment gave nothing away.

'I've never heard such a thing,' he sighed, sounding almost disappointed at his own lack of knowledge. 'Carlisle might know to what the term refers.' Edward looked at me, his gold-coloured eyes strangely compassionate despite their overwhelming creepiness. He unnerved me now, and I _knew _what he was. It would baffle me forever why Bella hadn't run screaming as soon as look at him. Edward, sensitive to my thoughts, let a tiny smile lift the corner of his lips. 'If there _is_ a prophesy, perhaps it will shed some light on Leah's _unique _situation.'

_Unique situation my a-_

_Prophesy or not, _Jacob interrupted, censoring my forming tirade. _There's going to be a full moon in four days. I don't want a pack of werewolves running around out here. _The russet wolf eyed me with an aura of speculation. _If they want Leah that bad, they'll be back. We need to call a meeting of the council, and we need to know everything you can tell us about the Children of the Moon. _The last was directed at Edward who inclined his head. Then he traded another quick glance and a murmured word with Jasper - a prompt, obviously, as the other leech stepped forward.

'I have encountered the Children of the Moon only once in my lifetime,' he began softly, his voice as perfectly modulated as all the vampires, but much quieter. 'Caius hunted them to the ends of the Earth to assuage a fear he holds. They seek shelter in the inhospitable places of the world, the frozen North for the most part.' It was painful to look at Jasper and see all the scars that marked his granite skin - mostly because it suggested that he had fought and bested a great many opponents. I'd rather take on the mind reader in a straight fight.

'They are our natural enemies, and our polar opposites. They start weak as puppies and gain strength with every lunar cycle.'

'Jacob wants to know how they fight,' Edward told his brother, surprising me as I'd not heard any such thing from Jake.

'Like newborns,' Jasper answered dryly. 'They rely on brute strength above tactics, and their approach is generally disorganised. They don't work as a pack as you do.'

Edward murmured a quick aside about Gabriella's comment regarding their pack, and suddenly Jasper looked unsure - worried, even. 'If they've learnt a way to work together, this is unfortunate news indeed,' he murmured, more to himself than anyone. 'The Children of the Moon are solitary creatures in both human and wolf forms. That's why Caius was so incensed by the magnitude of your force. 'Only on the night of a full moon can a werewolf access their full potential, but essentially their main advantage is strength. Add cooperation, a pack mind...' Jasper trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence to our feverish imaginations.

_So what you're saying is -_ Jacob began, his ears flattening back on his head.

_We're screwed. _Quil finished succinctly.

* * *

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't fucking believe it. Not only did I have to suffer the indignity of being a freak among my own kind, I was also a freak among other species of freak, too. I'd only just started to become - not comfortable, no chance of that, but - used to being the girly wolf. Being in Jake's pack with his constant, steady pain to counterbalance my own made me feel about as normal as I thought I could for the moment. And now I felt like the slightly crazy, probably dangerously unhinged point of gossip I'd been for the last year. If it wasn't for the fact that Seth was now in my head, picking through Quil's concise explanation of the situation and keeping a mental eye on me, I probably would have hunted down those werewolves and ripped their throats out. Shame the creepy old woman didn't get close enough to touch me - then, if she was still breathing afterwards, _then_ she could reconsider that legend.

_I wonder what they had in mind for you, _Embry thought suddenly, a speculative tone to the enquiry. I tried to concentrate on the forest blurring by as I ran, but his nosy wonderings were, unfortunately, along the same lines as I myself had be considering. The fact that I wasn't a "slave to the moon" seemed to be important, though why was a mystery. It wasn't like I could single-handedly take down the Volturi and the many, many probable werewolf hating vampires. If it was a saviour they wanted, they could have chosen someone a bit more suitable.

It was Embry, yet again, who provided an answer I hadn't considered. He was wondering what would happen if a shapeshifter and a werewolf procreated. _Werewolves who could phase without the moon, _he concluded thoughtfully. _They wouldn't be slaves._

_Then they've definitely got the wrong girly wolf, _I bit out cynically as we approached the outskirts of the Rez. I stalked into the cover of the trees, phasing rather than having to listen to what my pack brothers had to say in return.

I was buttoning my shorts when Jake ducked through into my leafy changing room, his expression soft, but not pitying. 'Leah, we don't know that for sure,' he sighed, but I was hard-pressed to listen to what was coming out of his mouth when he was standing naked in front of me. Oddly enough, Jake was much more comfortable being undressed in front of me than he was with the roles reversed. His cutoffs having been shredded during the confrontation, he now adopted a slightly more formal position, hands crossed in front of his groin in a pose that suggested, rather than shielding it from my view, he was shielding it more from attack. I tried not to smile. 'We don't really know _anything _for sure.' Admitting it seemed to make him feel worse. Jake was acutely aware of not being the all-knowing Alpha that Sam appeared to be. Still, I knew better than anyone that appearances were deceiving. Sam was as lost as the rest of us - which was why he was so heavy handed with the Alpha commands.

'Don't worry about it, Jake,' I sighed, flicking soaking strands of my hair out of my eyes. 'If my only other choice is breeding supermutant werewolf puppies then it's probably best for all of us that I don't bother.' My lips twisted in a grotesque smirk and I moved to brush past him.

Unexpectedly, Jake reached out, put his too-warm hand on my arm. I looked down at it there, layered over me, our skin an almost identical shade of bronze. I could see some of the faint scars he still had from the fight with the newborns - one, in particular, that ran from between his ring and pinkie fingers to the middle of his wrist. I traced it with my eyes rather than looking at his face. Sometimes Jake had the uncanny ability to make me feel uncomfortable - and these days, that wasn't exactly an easy undertaking.

I'd thought he was going to say something. 'What,' I muttered after we'd been standing in an awkward, silent tableau for well over a minute. 'No Hallmark moment?'

Jake dropped his hand back to his side, growled something like 'It'd be wasted on you anyway,' and strode out of the forest, but not fast enough for me to miss the red tops of his ears.

Despite myself and the situation, I grinned.

* * *

'We need to let Sam know,' were the first words out of Jared's mouth at the hastily assembled council meeting. As soon as he was dressed, Jacob had rounded up his father, my mother, and the rest of the Elders, as well as Jared and Paul to represent Sam's pack in his absence. The only thing I didn't like about being Beta was how many of these stupid, pointless meetings I had to sit through.

My mom glanced over at me, at the open disgust on my face, and pursed her lips. Old Quil and the others were eating it up, but Sue and Billy weren't as taken with Sam as the almighty Alpha - for obvious reasons. 'There are only four of them you said, Jacob,' she clarified, a steel edge to her voice. As Jake nodded, so did she. 'Then they're outnumbered. There's no need to worry Sam on his honeymoon.'

Acting Beta Paul didn't seem fazed by this decision, and neither was Jacob. Only Jared looked as if he wanted to protest, and though I knew he could be a bit of a wet blanket, I also knew he wasn't a coward. Sam had obviously given him orders to keep him informed - on the off chance some creepy, deluded mythical creatures happened to stop by and start making trouble. And knowing Sam, it wouldn't be enough to hear the news and wish them luck; he'd be back within the day to lead the charge. Jared had to decide who he was more afraid of at this point - Sam, or Emily.

'Way I see it,' Billy said slowly in his low, deep voice. 'They're after Leah, so she should get to decide how this plays out.'

For that, I could have kissed the old cripple. Billy didn't need first-hand experience to understand how I was feeling about the prospect of calling Sam off his honeymoon to save _me. _More to the point, it wasn't like I _needed _saving, especially since the werewolves hadn't done anything more than spout ridiculous dogma and try to stroke my face. It was ominous but ultimately, not threatening. Jasper could pull all the agonised grimaces he wanted - the fact remained that we could draw on our power whenever we needed to. If the werewolves were planning to mount an attack, it wouldn't take a genius to work out when it was going down.

'I say we wait,' I glanced at Jake for confirmation. 'Keep a close eye on them, take them down if necessary.' Oh, I really hoped it would be necessary. From the looks on the guys' faces, so did they. It had been a long time since our last proper fight - the tense exchange with the Volturi notwithstanding. The newborns had been _fun_, and I didn't doubt the werewolves would be too.

There was a murmur that ran around the congregation, each individual voice one that I could pick out if I so chose. As it was, I didn't need to, confident as I was that I could predict each reaction in turn. My pack would support me, though Quil and Embry might whine a little at the lack of proactivity. Jacob would be moody and worried - as was his wont. And my little brother would just be sorry that he missed meeting real, live, werewolves. I could count on discretion - if not outright agreement - from my Mom and Billy, although the rest of the Elders were fixated on the Sam plan. Paul, taken with his newfound position of authority, would be happy enough leaving Sam in blissful oblivion - and that might be enough to countermand Jared's orders for long enough to deal with the problem without the mighty Alpha's intervention.

Overall, I knew plan, subtle and reactive as it was, would prevail. Which was perfect, because I had no intention of sticking to it. How dare these strangers presume to know me? To know what I was capable of, what I was fated to do. And how, with their faint and shaky knowledge of of our abilities, did they know that I was the _right _shapeshifter? Why hadn't they even asked if there was another female? I had to talk to them, and then, depending on the outcome of the conversation, I had to deal with them.

There was an almost totally unnecessary vote - only observed because the Elders, usually the last word in any decision, couldn't agree - and it played out to the letter of my prediction.

'So that's it then,' Jacob concluded, his face darkening with any number of things, anxiety included. 'We wait.'

* * *

As it turned out, the pack's version of waiting involved alcohol and the Xbox that had been a Christmas present from Edward to my brother - knowing, as he did, that no one on the Rez could afford such luxuries when there was food to be put on the table. Jared's pack were unmercifully turfed out into the rain to run patrols on the grounds that "we did all the work earlier".

This, naturally, was a poorly concealed excuse to keep me prisoner under the guise of "protecting" me. Whatever. I knew Jake was on the line with it, that he'd guessed in his annoying way, that the werewolves' prophesy had affected me.

I poured a measure of vodka over some ice and went to sit on the back stoop. I'd taken a shower as soon as I'd gotten home, feeling like I'd brought back half the forest with me, and proceeded to wash it down the drain. Since my usual shorts and t-shirt combo were unsalvageable, I was in jeans - a pair, incidentally, that had been Sam's back when he was human sized - which sat low on my hips and bagged over my legs. My formerly white tank was an unattractive shade of grey, not to mention full of unsightly holes - the biggest being a tear across the back that looked as if I'd been mauled by, well, a giant wolf. It was the second best vest I owned.

As I sat enjoying the quiet and relishing the slow burn of triple filtered ethanol down my throat and into my belly, I gradually became aware that I was being watched.

'Take a picture and go away,' I muttered, too tired to bother snapping. It hadn't exactly made sense, but that didn't stop Jake from snickering all the same.

'Don't flatter yourself, Clearwater,' he teased, lurching forward to sit beside me. 'I was looking at the moon.'

'Two days,' I told him. 'Maybe three.' The moon was taking on an alarming roundness.

'Yeah,' Jake agreed, though he sounded doubtful. 'Maybe.'

'You got a plan?'

'Other than yours?' Jake shook his head. 'I'm hoping Dr. Fang will have an explanation for all of this.'

'Yeah,' it was my turn to sound doubtful. 'Maybe.'

'Leah -'

'I was resigned, Jake,' I broke in, angrily twisting the tumbler of vodka between my palms. 'I'd accepted that I was it, the end of the line. That there was nothing for me. And now this -' It was fortunate that I'd mastered control of my phasing almost as quickly as Jake had, otherwise I'd be wearing my vodka. 'So my choice is perpetuating a generation of mindless killing machines or being alone forever? You should have let the newborns have me.'

Jacob visibly winced. It was no secret that this kind of talk made the boys uncomfortable - because they were all just boys who looked like men. I was older, not by much, but enough to have been considering a family. Sam and I had made plans to buy the Little House - the cottage he now shared with Emily - and what we wanted to name our children. We had a whole future mapped out and he took it with him when he left, slotting my cousin neatly into the space where I should have been. Jake and the others didn't understand because they'd never entertained the idea before.

He dropped his head and looked at the ground between his knees. 'You're not alone, Lee. You've got us.'

I appreciated the sentiment - a testament to the growth I'd undergone since changing pack allegiance - but not enough to stem the bitter laugh that welled up from somewhere in me that the vodka hadn't yet numbed. 'At least until you all imprint.'

'I have a theory about that,' Jake murmured, taking a slug of beer. If I was capable of being surprised, I would have been, right then. It was a surprisingly circumspect reaction considering how militantly Jake protested the imprinting process.

'Not the genetic match bullshit again,' I groaned, making a face as he knocked his knee against mine, trying to get me to shut up.

'That was Sam's theory,' Jake objected, sounding hurt and a little annoyed that I had compared the two. 'Mine's better.'

'Debatable.'

'I think imprinting is designed to give us purpose, to tie us to this life for better or worse,' he said, shifting on the cold and uncomfortable concrete step.

'So what you're saying is -' _I wasn't a good enough purpose? _My voice hitched. 'You all need fate to intervene to stop you from self-destructing?' An admirable recovery, I thought, though Jake didn't look fooled.

'The people that have imprinted - Jared, Quil, Paul...they're all followers, all happy to run in the same direction. If Paul hadn't imprinted on Rachel -' he grimaced. 'Then he probably would have given himself a coronary, or picked a fight with the wrong vampire, and that would have been that. Nature did him a favour.'

'And Sam?' I barely managed to whisper, my hands shaking slightly as I realised we were getting dangerously close to territory that was still raw.

'Sam needs someone he can control. Forever.' Jake was averting his eyes, staring off into the distance. 'And nature knew you didn't fit the bill.'

I flinched. That wasn't the only way I didn't fit the bill, apparently. It was an ugly way to describe what had happened between Sam and I, though no more so than many people on the Rez had suggested when we first split. For those out of the loop, I could see how it might have looked - he disappeared for weeks on end with no explanation, returned looking as if he'd been mainlining steroids and with a temper that constantly seemed to be bubbling beneath the surface. I took him back without even the weakest explanation, letting him back into my life only for him to leave me shortly afterwards for my cousin.

I didn't want to think too hard about what Jake had said, but I couldn't help it. Sam and I had rarely fought, but that was mainly because I deferred to him, my love for him cowing me. I had been willing to do anything for him. And when we did fight, it had always been me apologising, convinced that I was in the wrong, and terrified that he'd leave me if I didn't.

'That's kind of fucked up,' I murmured in response to my silent traipse down memory lane.

I felt Jake tense next to me.

'Like I said,' he broke in quickly. 'It's just another theory.'

In actual fact, he'd said it was _his _theory. I took a large gulp of my drink, momentarily forgetting that it was neat vodka until the strength of it hit the back of my throat, making me choke instantly. I coughed, my eyes tearing madly as I fought for breath. 'Damn,' I gasped out, spilling vodka all over the porch as I shook with the force of it, and Jake pounded me on the back so hard that I almost fell face first into the dirt at his feet.

'Easy there,' he laughed, seeming to forget in an instant the atmosphere that had descended on us. 'You okay?'

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak for the moment, and carefully set my glass down, sucking spilt vodka from the backs of my fingers where it had trickled between them. Then I drew back my fist and, in a move that happened fast enough to blur the scene, I punched Jake's bicep.

'Ow! Jesus, what the -'

'Jerk,' I snapped, giving him the stink eye. 'You nearly knocked me off the step.'

Jake rolled his eyes at me but, unusually, didn't bother retaliating. We were past that now, and only picking holes for the sake of it. So he thought Sam needed someone to control. Far as I could see, he had ten people to control - the popular Alpha command was issued with alarming frequency. He didn't need Emily for that. Still, there was something that bothered me, a thought so vicious I almost wondered if I'd made any progress at all.

'Lucky she's got him,' I said quietly, practically willing Jake not to hear me - even though he'd seen worse inside my head. 'Since no one else would want her with those scars.' They couldn't help but be repulsed; I could feel them inside my mind, their speculation about what it was like to see that every day. Only through Sam's deep and forced love for her could they begin to see past it and to the woman beyond the scars.

Jacob turned sharply to look at me. 'It was an accident,' he said harshly. His adamance rang false. 'Sam was devastated about what happened.' He was shaking slightly now himself.

I looked away.

'Yeah,' I said even more softly. 'I remember.'

They'd been having an argument about me. Sam's memories of the day were wrapped in layers of guilt, which was why I'd targeted them in the first place. I'd wanted to find some indication that he felt bad about ruining my life, and some sort of confirmation that what we'd had had been real. He'd never imagined that I would be one of the people with unrestricted access to the inside of his head.

They'd been arguing about me; Emily was begging him to throw off the imprint, telling him that he belonged with me. Her mild manner turned to fury when he said he couldn't, wouldn't go against nature and that, in turn, tipped him over the edge. Since then, I'd accepted that I was neither natural nor normal. Sam's words only confirmed what I'd concluded on my own.

'Do you think you'll ever be anything but hateful ever again?'

It wasn't said maliciously, it was a genuine question. I suspected that Jake was wondering that of himself as much as me.

'I don't know,' I admitted. Since leaving Sam's pack, I'd felt better, but it wasn't enough. I'd seen inside his mind and it cemented my worst fears. The damage was done. 'As long as I stay frozen like this -' I gestured at my nineteen year old body, as hard and perfect as an athlete. 'I can't move forward. I'm stuck being...this - this pathetic, rejected spinster.'

Jacob's expression was admirably blank as he nodded at my harsh, exposed words. He'd felt my struggle to stop phasing, was there when I realised that as long as the Cullens hung around Forks, it was next to impossible. He heard the aftershocks of my conversation with Mom and Seth; I'd talked about leaving, maybe going to college, and not returning until I started to age again - which, with our lack of knowledge on the matter, might be decades rather than months or years. They weren't ready for that, not so soon after losing my father, and I wasn't strong enough to abandon them. It was just one more thing I'd resigned myself to.

I looked over at Jake. 'Do you think...?'

'I don't know,' he echoed, smiling sadly at his hands.

'I wouldn't wish this on anybody,' I whispered, my eyes closed but my lips quirking into a tiny smile. 'Not even you, Black.'

He snorted and I looked at him. 'It's not the same,' he disagreed, shaking his head and reaching up to touch his newly shorn hair when it failed to flop into his face. 'She was never really mine.'

**Endnote: ****Next up, booze and the effect thereof on the teenage libido. Also, as ever, don't forget to let me know what you think!**


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